


Before, After, and Beyond

by mainstreamelectricalparade



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Canon Temporary Character Death, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, Fix-It, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:34:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24963100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mainstreamelectricalparade/pseuds/mainstreamelectricalparade
Summary: The thing was, Peter always rolled his eyes and brushed it off whenever Ned or MJ or May would joke that Mr. Stark kind of acted like a dad around him.That was the thing.But that was before.---Or, Peter wonders where he belongs in Tony's life now that everything is so different. Requested by an anon on Tumblr.
Relationships: Happy Hogan & Peter Parker, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Peter Parker, Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Pepper Potts & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 107
Kudos: 818





	1. Before

**Author's Note:**

> This oneshot was requested by an anon on Tumblr, technically a month and a half ago, and I just got around to finally writing it last night, which, oops, but at least I finally did it, and it's doing really well on Tumblr so I figured I'd post it here, too, so people could bookmark it and stuff if they wanted.
> 
> Prompt: "maybe you could write a short fic about peter coming back from the snap and meeting Morgan and its angst and tony stark isnt dead because I make the rules"
> 
> I tweaked it a tiny bit because my garbage fluff brain couldn't make it ALL angsty, lol, and of course once I got going I couldn't really stop so it's hardly what I'd call "short", either. Enjoy!

The thing was.

The thing was, Peter always rolled his eyes and brushed it off whenever Ned or MJ or May would joke that Mr. Stark kind of acted like a dad around him.

That was the thing.

But that was before.

Before Peter could _feel_ himself dying on a foreign planet far, far away from everything he knew, and and his instinct was to turn to Mr. Stark, the name _Dad_ on the tip of his tongue but not quite escaping.

Before Mr. Stark lunged forward to catch Peter before he could hit the ground, stumbling himself because there was a stab wound in his side but somehow _Peter_ mattered more.

Before Mr. Stark held Peter close with a hand in his hair because he knew it made Peter relax, and promised him that he was ok, even though Peter knew he was lying because his voice was shaking and he sounded like maybe he was crying.

Before Peter opened his eyes and suddenly Mr. Stark wasn't holding him anymore, and somehow it had been five years and Dr. Strange was opening a portal and ushering Peter through it, and there was a crazy fight and Peter nearly forgot all about dying until suddenly Mr. Stark _was_ there, and Peter was babbling, because what else was he going to do, and Mr. Stark was tugging him into the biggest, best hug Peter had ever had, and kissing Peter's face and then holding him some more like he was trying to reassure himself that he was real, and Peter was kind of melting, even though by all accounts it should have been horribly uncomfortable because Mr. Stark was in an Iron Man suit and Peter's suit allowed for free movement and flexibility but it was still _metal_ , but it _wasn't_ uncomfortable, it was the best hug of Peter's life, and then it was over, but the battle wasn't, so they lost sight of each other again.

Before Mr. Stark raised a gauntlet of his own invention, and destroyed Thanos and his entire army with a single snap.

Before Peter was _sure_ that he'd lost another dad.

Before Dr. Strange and Helen Cho teamed up to save Mr. Stark's life, working tirelessly for hours straight. Nearly a full day, during which nobody slept, no matter how bone-achingly tired they all were. Peter cried until there were no tears left in his body, and then he cried some more, until he was sick one and a half times and a nurse threatened to put him on an IV if he didn't calm down.

Before he got put on an IV anyway, because Miss Potts – sorry, Mrs. Stark, now, he missed the wedding – ratted him out about his metabolism and refusal to eat in between her third and fourth phone calls.

Before Mrs. Stark got a fourth phone call, which turned out to be Happy, and any possibility that maybe those dad jokes hadn't been so jokey shriveled up into a lumpy nugget of cold, hard truth and lodged itself in Peter's throat.

Because Mr. Stark _had_ a kid. A little girl named Morgan, who wanted to know where her mommy and daddy were, and Mr. Stark didn't need Peter anymore.

So what was Peter even doing, sticking around? Pun not intended, and not even something he could bring himself to find funny, right now.

But then Dr. Cho came into the recovery room that the nurse had confined Peter to when she hooked him up to an IV, where Mrs. Stark was being the nicest possible person on Earth and sitting with him even though she'd probably rather be with her daughter, or doing something else to keep herself busy so she didn't have to think about the fact that her husband had been in surgery for over twenty hours.

“Tony is stable,” Dr. Cho announced, her voice gentle, and incredibly tired. Mrs. Stark stood up immediately upon hearing her words, eyes wide with relief. “There was nothing we could do to save his arm, but he'll recover. We're setting him up next door, feel free to go in. It's hard to say how long he'll be asleep, but I'm sure he'd appreciate the company all the same.”

Mrs. Stark crossed the room and drew the weary doctor into a tight hug. “Thank you so much,” she breathed. “Thank you for saving him.”

“He saved _everyone_ ,” Dr. Cho said softly. “It's the least we could do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go take a coma. Sorry, _nap._ ”

Mrs. Stark laughed softly and waved her off, and Peter expected her to follow her through the door to go see Mr. Stark without a second thought, but to his surprise, she stood still for a moment, her hands clutched over her heart, like she was taking a moment to say a silent thanks to whatever higher power might have allowed such a miracle to happen, and then she turned to look at Peter in the bed, smiling through her tears.

“He's going to be ok,” she whispered. She let out a quiet, disbelieving laugh, then took the few quick steps to Peter's bedside, cupping his face in her hands and, to his great surprise, planting a kiss on top of his curly head. “He'll be alright.”

Peter had no claim to Mr. Stark, not like she did, not like Morgan did, but the sheer amount of pure relief that flooded through him almost made him feel like he could, just for a little while, just for now. He had cried himself dry hours ago, but apparently he'd been on the IV long enough to restock a little, because the tears started to spill over tenfold as he realized that Mr. Stark wasn't gone forever. He felt horribly guilty as Mrs. Stark sat down on the edge of the bed beside him and pulled him into her arms, cradling him and soothing him as he cried harder than ever, because _she_ had far more right to cry than he did, but he was grateful for the comfort, at the same time, and melted into it.

After a few minutes, Peter sniffed a couple times, willing himself to chill out and get a grip, seriously, Parker, and withdrew from her comforting maternal embrace. He gave her an awkward, shaky smile. “You should... go be with him,” he mumbled, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand. “And... and Morgan. I'm ok.” He wasn't. But he wasn't family, either, he didn't need to take up anymore of their family time.

Mrs. Stark didn't seem terribly convinced, frowning at him. “Are you sure, hon?”

“Yeah, yeah, I'm... I'll probably just sleep a little, now that... y'know.”

Mrs. Stark pursed her lips, clearly not buying it, probably because she was married to the king of BS and could smell it from a mile away, but she was also probably anxious to _see_ aforementioned king of BS, so she stood up, smoothed her hand over Peter's hair once in parting, and left the room.

* * *

Peter was allowed to leave the MedBay long before Mr. Stark showed any signs of waking up. His instinct was to go next door and see Mr. Stark, just to see with his own eyes that he really, truly was alive, but Happy had stopped into his room to see him about an hour before they let him go, and after being cried over and nearly coddled back to death for a few minutes (boy, that had been shocking, Peter didn't think Happy even knew _how_ to cry, let alone over Peter out of anything other than annoyance), he informed Peter than he had come to the Compound to bring Morgan to her parents, and that immediately made any thoughts Peter had of going to visit his mentor come to a screeching halt. It was obviously family time, right now. He'd go later. Maybe.

Instead, he wandered the halls of the Compound for an hour, before FRIDAY finally overrode his request to take the elevator down to the lobby so he could go outside, taking him up to the private penthouse instead and refusing to budge when he whined about it, simply stating that his exhaustion levels were nearing critical and if he didn't get some rest soon she would tell Mrs. Stark on him, which, _tattletale_ , much?

“I thought it had been five years, what's with the helicopter mode?” Peter grumbled, shuffling into the familiar penthouse with his hands in the pockets of the hoodie he had been wearing when he got on the bus to go to MOMA.

He wasn't really expecting an answer, but that was kind of the thing about Ais. They took everything non-rhetorically. “ _When Karen came back online, so did all the old protocols relating to the Baby Monitor_.”

“Oh my god.” Peter huffed, toeing petulantly at the carpet at the news that Mr. Stark hadn't deactivated the Baby Monitor stuff, even though it had been five years since they'd been needed. Then again, it also sent a weird, warm, fuzzy feeling through the middle of his chest, at the realization that Mr. Stark had kept those embarrassing old protocols active despite the fact that it was highly unlikely that Peter would ever be around to put them in use again. Mr. Stark had kept something of Peter's... why? Not because it was useful. Because... he missed Peter.

It was the only logical conclusion, but somehow it seemed so, so illogical. Because Mr. Stark had moved on. Mr. Stark had Morgan. Mr. Stark didn't need Peter anymore. Yeah, Mr. Stark had hugged Peter like he was afraid Peter was going to disappear again if he let go, but that could have just been adrenaline. Maybe. Probably.

“ _Peter?”_ FRIDAY said, startling Peter out of his thoughts. “ _You really should get some rest.”_

“Uh... right.” Peter looked around, then headed for the hallway where the bedrooms were. He stopped after a few steps. “Oh... my room's probably not... _my_ room anymore, huh? They probably converted it for Morgan, right? So I guess I'll sleep... on the couch, or...” His chest tightened. He really had been replaced. And nobody deserved that spot more than Mr. Stark's real, biological child, but it still _hurt_.

“ _Your room hasn't been touched since you last used it,”_ FRIDAY corrected.

Peter paused, halfway into the motion of sitting down on the couch. “But-”

“ _Boss was rather adamant about leaving your room alone. Statistically speaking, your bed is much more comfortable than the couch, no matter how high quality the couch may be. I would advise you sleep in it.”_

Peter stood up straight, getting more confused by the minute, and headed to his room. He opened the door and peeked inside, expecting it to at least have been cleaned or something, since he wasn't exactly the tidiest teenager on the planet, but no. Everything was... as he'd last left it. There was half-completed chemistry homework on his desk, LEGOs scattered across the floor, clothes hanging in the closet and halfway out of open drawers, his bed unmade because he'd forgotten to do that the last time he stayed over, and Mr. Stark had called him at school later and teased him about it, but not fixed it for him, instead adding it to a list of chores that Peter would have to do before he could come down and play in the lab next time he visited.

That felt like three days ago, for Peter. He couldn't wrap his head around five _years_.

* * *

Peter must have crawled into that unmade bed and fallen asleep at some point, because suddenly he was waking up to the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, a warning that something was about to happen. He squinted one eye open, only to let out a yell of surprise and jerk backwards, nearly tumbling out of bed when his gaze was met by a pair of big brown eyes inches from his face.

“What the-” he started, cutting himself off from saying anything rude when he realized that the eyes belonged to a tiny little girl no more than four years old. “Who are-?” He stopped himself yet again when he realized the obvious answer to his own question. “Morgan?”

The little girl beamed at him. “Hi!”

Peter blinked down at her, trying to catch his soul and stuff it back into his body after she had scared it out of him with that wake-up call. Finally, he managed, “Hi.”

“Mommy said you were here,” Morgan said, climbing up onto Peter's bed and settling in as though she had never heard of the concept of personal space. “She's downstairs with Daddy.” She paused, tilting her head, then frowned and whispered, “Daddy got hurt.”

Peter's throat went dry. “I- I know,” he mumbled. “I'm sorry.”

“But he woke up this morning, and he gave me a big hug and lotsa kisses, even though he's only got one arm for hugs now,” Morgan continued. “But he kept looking for something that wasn't there, and the machine went _beep-beep-beep-beep_ real fast, and that's when Mommy said you were sleeping in 'cause that's what teenagers do, and I haven't seen you yet, so I came to wake you up, and now I'm here, and you're awake.”

Peter's brow furrowed in confusion. “Why'd you wanna come see me?”

Morgan just giggled in response, like he'd made the funniest joke ever. She lifted herself up onto her knees so that she could reach his neck to hug him, then climbed over him and hopped off the bed. “Let's go!” she commanded, tugging on his hand.

“Wha- where are we going?” Peter asked, baffled, as she dragged him out of bed with a surprisingly strong grip. He was still in his pajamas for god's sake, where was she expecting him to go dressed in one of the hoodies he'd pilfered from Mr. Stark and never given back, and a pair of Star Wars flannel PJs?

It took him a grand total of thirty seconds to realize she was dragging him back down to the MedBay. “Oh, wait, no, no no, I don't-” he began to protest, trying to tug his hand out of hers without using his super strength against her.

“Daddy's waiting for us!” Morgan chirped, and apparently that was that until they were standing in front of Mr. Stark's recovery room door and she finally released his hand. She pushed the door open and skipped right inside, leaving Peter standing alone in the hall staring at the door with wide eyes, afraid to go in but afraid to walk away, either. He heard muffled voices from inside the recovery room, first Morgan's high, sweet voice, announcing that she had returned, and that she had done what had been asked of her, then Mrs. Stark's voice complimenting her on a job well done, then high-pitched giggles from Morgan as a slightly groggy, male voice chimed in, groaning slightly as Mr. Stark presumably leaned down to help Morgan climb into the bed with him, and then joining his wife in telling their daughter what a fantastic job she had done.

“Now, wait a minute, if you did such a good job, then where is Mr. Sleepyhead, huh?” Mr. Stark teased after a couple minutes.

“I think he doesn't know how to open doors,” Morgan whispered loudly, causing Mr. Stark to let out a snort of laughter that turned into a kind of scary-sounding cough that freaked Peter out a little, but fortunately didn't last long.

“Is that right?” Mr. Stark asked, the grin evident in his voice, before he raised his speaking volume a little and called, “Hey, kid? You out there?”

Peter's throat went dry. There was no more hiding, he supposed, no more avoiding going inside. He poked his head through the gap Morgan left when she didn't close the door all the way, wringing his hands nervously out of Mr. Stark's line of sight.

Mr. Stark looked... kind of terrible. Well, he looked a hell of a lot better than he probably would have if he didn't have Helen Cho and Stephen Strange as his main doctors, with her cradle and his magic stuff at their disposal to heal him up faster than regular methods, but the damage done to his body was extraterrestrial, for lack of a better word, so even their better-than-average techniques couldn't fix everything. There were scars crawling up the right side of his face and neck, probably below the neckline of his hospital gown, too, all the way down to where his right arm ended in a stump just below his shoulder (kind of like Bethany Hamilton, Peter couldn't help thinking).

When Peter entered the room (or at least, his head did), Mr. Stark's face relaxed into a relieved, easy smile, the look on his face suggesting he hadn't been entirely sure Peter was actually there until he saw him for himself.

“Hey, kid,” Mr. Stark greeted, and his voice was as warm and welcoming as the hug had been yesterday – or rather, two days ago. It was a bit of a strange contrast, for Peter, who was used to Mr. Stark's more brusque, playfully aloof brand of affection... his _pre-Morgan_ brand, Peter supposed, which was just another reminder that he had no real claim to that affection.

Peter opened his mouth to reply, but nothing more than a soft croak escaped. He swallowed thickly. That lumpy nugget of emotion had lodged itself in his throat again, making it difficult to form words.

“What, you just gonna stand there hovering like a human balloon?” Mr. Stark teased. He shifted Morgan in his lap so that she was cuddled up against his right side, and beckoned Peter into the room with his left arm. “Get in here, you're like a ghost that's afraid to say 'boo', you look terrified, we don't bite.”

The teasing, ridiculous as it was, relaxed Peter a little, and he inched further into the room, closing the door behind him. He scanned the room for a seat, and sat down gingerly on the edge of one of the uncomfortable visitor's chairs arranged against the wall. Mr. Stark looked remarkably unimpressed with his choice, lifting his arm up again.

“Really? I gotta _ask_ for a hug? A little insulted, not gonna lie.” Peter looked up at him, startled by the request, but Mr. Stark just waved his arm pointedly. “Either you get up or I'm coming over there and pissing off a lot of medical professionals and Pepper, your choice, kid.”

That got Peter to scramble to his feet, unwilling to let Mr. Stark hurt himself just for the sake of a damn _hug_. He approached the bed at a much slower pace, but Mr. Stark seemed satisfied that he was at least not clear across the room, anymore. He surprised Peter by seizing his sleeve and yanking him down to his level when Peter was close enough for him to reach, trapping Peter in a one-armed embrace that had Peter squeaking in alarm and wiggling a little, trying to escape.

“Nope, no, uh-uh, you're not going _anywhere_ , underoos,” Mr. Stark said firmly, tightening his grip and holding on until Peter gave up and relaxed, arms slowly coming up to return the hug with some hesitation. “ _I'm_ the invalid, here, _I_ get to decide when I've had enough hugs.”

Normally Peter would have rolled his eyes, because Mr. Stark was being _completely_ ridiculous, but... this was really nice. And he had no idea when he'd be able to have this again. And Mr. Stark had just almost _died_. And apparently Peter _had_ died, for five whole years. So, Peter let himself indulge, just for a little while, snuggling into Mr. Stark's chest, being careful not to bump against anything that he'd heard Dr. Cho say was injured the day before. After a minute he felt Mr. Stark's hand leave his back and move up to play with his hair, and he melted into the touch.

“Well, don't you look smug, over there, covered in children,” he heard Mrs. Stark tease quietly from somewhere behind him.

Mr. Stark's chest rumbled with soft laughter under Peter's ear. “Works better than the drugs, I think,” he muttered, sounding happier than Peter thought he'd ever heard him. “Feel great.”

“I can imagine.” Peter felt someone lean over him slightly, and then Mrs. Stark's voice was much closer. “Hey, little miss, you want to come help Mommy make lunch?”

Morgan's head popped up immediately, bobbling in agreement. “Pancakes!” she cheered.

“Honey, we had pancakes for breakfast,” Mrs. Stark laughed, lifting Morgan off the bed.

“ _Petey_ didn't have pancakes.”

“So that means we _all_ need to have them again?”

“Yeah-”

The door opened and closed, and then Mrs. Stark and Morgan were gone, all without Peter lifting his head once.

The room was quiet for a while, aside from the steady sound of Mr. Stark's heart monitor beeping. Then Mr. Stark heaved a long, soft sigh, and leaned down to press a kiss to the top of Peter's head. “God, I missed you, kid.” Finally, Peter lifted his head, although Mr. Stark's arm around him didn't allow him to go very far, so that he could see his mentor's face. Mr. Stark offered him a small, kind of sad smile, hand still in Peter's hair, fingers gently working through the knots left by his spectacular bedhead.

“You did?” Peter said softly, before he could stop himself. Was he really looking a gift horse in the mouth, right now? He was getting unrestrained attention and affection from the person he craved it from the most, and he was _questioning_ it? Shut _up_ , Parker.

“I did,” Mr. Stark echoed, tracing the top of Peter's cheek with his thumb. The rough calluses against Peter's skin were unfamiliar, but not unwelcome, and he leaned into the gentle hand. “You've gotta know that, don't you?”

Peter hesitated, thinking about Morgan, but he also thought about his room in the penthouse, untouched, unchanged, even though he hadn't been there to live in it. “I... yeah, I know,” he whispered, his throat growing tight with emotion as it started to dawn on him that maybe he'd jumped to conclusions, a little bit. “'m sorry, Mr. Stark. Sorry, Tony.” To his embarrassment, tears welled up and blurred his vision, and he moved to duck his head back down so he could hide his face from his mentor's sight, but Tony just swiped that callused thumb under his eyes to catch the falling tears and then guided Peter close to himself again, so that Peter's face was tucked into his neck like a small child. Peter wondered vaguely if this was how Tony held his daughter, and that made him cry a little harder.

Tony hushed Peter softly, holding him tight, his hand rubbing soothing circles in Peter's back, and this was _absolutely_ how he held Morgan, it had to be, this was how parents comforted their kids, this was how May and Ben comforted Peter when he was small.

“I gotcha, bud, it's ok,” Tony crooned, pushing his nose into Peter's hair because he didn't have a second hand anymore. “Don't be sorry, kid, don't cry, it's all ok, now, alright? We're ok. I got you, baby.”

Tony's heart jumped under Peter's ear slightly, which made Peter think he hadn't meant to call him that, but he didn't correct himself or BS his way through an excuse as to why he did, like _the pain meds made me do it_ , or something, which made Peter think maybe Tony _wanted_ to call him that, which made Peter cry even harder, fisting his hand in Tony's hospital gown and curling as close to his mentor as possible.

Tony let Peter cry as long as he needed to, and when the leaking eyes and runny nose turned into puffy, dry eyes and an occasional sniffle, he joked softly, “I had kind of always imagined a tearful reunion, but I was expecting myself to cry a little more than you.” He _was_ crying, Peter realized, his voice thick with emotion, but not as hard as Peter.

Peter sniffled, pushing himself to sit up a little, scrubbing at his face, red from crying and a little embarrassment. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“What did we just say? No sorries, everything's ok,” Tony insisted, smiling at Peter reassuringly. “You're ok, yeah?”

Peter nodded. “Yeah. 'm ok. I'm... I'm good, I...” He finally met Tony's eyes, and offered him a small, hesitant smile in return, hoping he wasn't just imagining the love in his mentor's eyes. “I'm good.”

“Good,” Tony said firmly, studying Peter's face and seeming satisfied that he wasn't lying through his teeth. “I need my kids to be ok.”

Peter's heart soared.


	2. After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Daddy was right."
> 
> Peter paused, turning his head to look at her curiously. "Right about what, Mo?"
> 
> Morgan hummed, her fingers relaxing on his sleeve as sleep started to overtake her once more, wiggling around to turn onto her side, curling up in a little ball under the blankets. "I like having a big brother."
> 
> She was fast asleep before Peter had time to wrap his head around her words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had several requests for a follow-up/sequel fic, with an extra helping of Peter and Morgan sibling cuteness, so of COURSE i had to oblige!

Tony was released from Helen Cho's professional care after a couple days in the MedBay. Her cradle worked wonders on what little remained of his right arm, healing over the amputated stump almost as though he'd never had an arm there to begin with. It made Peter a little sick to his stomach to look at at first, not because it was gross, because it wasn't, but because of the reminder that Tony had come so very, painfully close to not being there at all. But Tony caught him looking at it with a queasy look on his face, and seemed to just _know_ why, and reached over with his remaining arm to gather Peter up into a one-armed hug, a silent reminder that he _was_ still there. And it really did help, to be able to unabashedly tuck himself under Tony's arm and curl around his mentor/newly-minted father figure until his unease melted away.

They went up to the lake house the next day. Tony was annoyingly cryptic regarding any details Peter tried to weasel out of him, but fortunately Morgan was a little blabbermouth, so when Peter gave up on badgering Tony for information about where the hell they were actually going, he leaned across the back seat and Morgan told him absolutely _everything_ , to his delight and Tony's dismay.

"She hasn't quite grasped the concept of _suspense_ yet," Tony grumbled, and Peter couldn't see his face, sitting directly behind him, but he could _hear_ the pout in his voice, and it was endlessly funny.

The deeper they got into the more rural part of the state, the less Peter grilled Morgan for details and the more he leaned into the window to take in the gorgeous autumn views. He had never been this far north before, much less at this time of year. Sure, the leaves in the city changed color, and that was always pretty, but it was nothing compared to driving through a forest and seeing nothing but red, yellow, and orange for miles. At one point Peter sat bolt upright, eyes wide, turning around in his seat to try to get another glimpse of something that had caught his eye as they sped past. " _Oh my god_ , was that a deer?"

"Probably," Pepper replied, amusement evident in her voice. To her credit, though, she wasn't openly laughing at Peter's astonishment, the way Tony was. "Sometimes they wander into our yard, too."

"Whoa..."

Peter was so busy craning his neck to look out the window, trying to see if he could spot any other wildlife through the trees, that he completely missed the way Tony's eyes landed on him in the rear view mirror, his entire expression softening.

* * *

"Tony, come look at this."

A brief pause. "Uh, you've got a _tone_ right now, so I think I'd rather not-"

"Anthony Edward Stark, come see what your god damn alpaca did to my zucchini patch."

"Why is he _my_ alpaca when he misbehaves?" Tony complained, trudging around the corner of the surprisingly cozy-looking cabin, following the sound of Pepper's irritated voice.

Peter looked down at Morgan, who was standing beside him in the driveway, her little arms wrapped around her backpack. "You have an alpaca?"

Morgan nodded. "Gerald! Daddy bought him when I was a baby."

Peter tilted his head in consideration, kind of just imagining that scene in iCarly where the guy is in the elevator with a llama and a smoothie and the other characters ask what he has and he says "a smoothie", but instead of the iCarly characters it's Tony and Pepper. He grinned to himself at the mental image, then crouched down in front of Morgan and said, very seriously, "I'm gonna need you to introduce me to Gerald, _right now_."

Morgan beamed, dropping her backpack next to the car in favor of seizing Peter's hand and running in the direction Tony and Pepper had gone. She led him past a mostly-pristine fenced-in garden, in which Pepper was ranting, gesturing to a patch of what must have been her ruined zucchini plants, occasionally prodding Tony in the chest in an accusatory manner, to the other side of the house, across a spacious clearing to a decently-sized enclosure that looked to be just the right size to house farm animals. And sure enough, right in the front of the enclosure, chewing lazily on a mouthful of alfalfa, was the _cutest_ alpaca Peter had ever seen. Not that he'd ever actually seen an alpaca in person before, but he'd say that even if he had.

"Oh my _god_ ," Peter cooed, moving up to lean against the fencing of the enclosure so he could get a better look at Gerald. "Hi, Gerald! You are _so cute_ , oh my god, Ned would _love_ you-"

Peter froze, just as Gerald's fuzzy nose bumped against his outstretched hand. _Ned_. Where was he, after everything that had happened? Was he still alive? Was Peter's best friend twenty-three, now? Or had he gotten dusted, too? Where was May? MJ? Where was...

Everybody?

Peter stepped back from the fence, dropping his hand back to his side, stumbling a little as the realization hit him that he had no idea what had happened to anyone he cared about. "Oh, god..."

Morgan reached up to tug on the corner of Peter's jacket before slipping her hand into his, curling all five of her tiny fingers around two of Peter's, big brown eyes wide with concern. "Petey, you ok?"

Peter glanced down at her, and immediately felt bad for worrying her. "I'm... yeah, Mo, I just... um..." He took a deep breath. How to explain what had just happened in a way a four year old could understand? "Feel a little weird, all of a sudden."

"Can I help?"

Peter couldn't help smiling a little at her sweetness. He reached out to run his free hand over the top of her head. "I don't think so, sweetie, but it's nice to offer."

Morgan pouted a little, visibly put out by the idea that she couldn't help, but then she brightened again and lifted her arms up to him. "Sometimes Daddy doesn't feel good, even though he's not sick, and hugs make him feel better!"

"Well, I never say no to a hug," Peter said, smile widening as he leaned down to tuck the little girl into his arms. He ended up scooping her up and holding her on his hip, her weight practically nothing for his Spidey strength, and she seemed perfectly content with this, wrapping her arms around his neck and snuggling into his shoulder.

Huh. May had been right. Holding babies (or... small kids) really was kind of like snuggling a therapy dog. Similar soothing effect. The unease in his chest melted away for a moment, until he realized that he was thinking about May, which reminded him that he had no idea what had happened to May, which prompted him to heft Morgan a little higher on his hip and hold her a little closer, sighing softly.

After a few quiet moments of cuddling, occasionally interrupted by the need to brush Morgan's hair out of Peter's mouth when the autumn breeze flicked it into his face, he heard leaves crunching from across the yard, quickly followed by Tony's voice calling to them.

"I was wondering where you two were running off to in such a hurry," he said, sounding amused as he drew nearer to Gerald's enclosure. "Met Gerald, huh? He spit on you?"

"No," Peter said, glancing over at Gerald briefly, before squinting at Tony over the top of Morgan's head. "Has he spit on _you_?"

Tony was quiet for just a little bit too long. "No."

"Oh my god..." Peter would have loved to make fun of Tony for that, but with his mind elsewhere, full of worry for his aunt and friends, his heart wasn't quite in it. He shifted Morgan in his arms and rested his chin on top on her head.

"Daddy, Petey needs hugs," Morgan piped up suddenly, her voice slightly muffled into her own arm, since she refused to lift her head from Peter's shoulder. "He's sad."

Tony tilted his head, frowning slightly. "Oh, yeah?"

Peter's cheeks heated, and he looked away from his mentor's studious gaze. "'m fine," he muttered.

"Liar," Morgan said, poking him in the cheek. "Don't lie."

Peter huffed. "You're bossy, you know that?" he teased, poking her back, right in the middle of her chubby belly, which made her giggle and try to push his hand away.

"But I'm _right_ ," she insisted, once Peter gave up trying to tickle her. "Shouldn't lie to Daddy, 'cause daddies can fix everything."

Peter glanced at Tony, who nodded encouragingly, silently inviting him to tell him what was wrong. Truthfully, Peter wasn't sure why he was so reluctant; he knew Tony would understand the desperate desire to know what had happened to the people he cared about.

"I just, um..." Peter shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "The _five years_ thing kinda just hit me, so um... I started thinking about May. And my friends."

Realization dawned across Tony's face faster than Peter could say _arc reactor_. "Oh, bud, of course," he agreed softly, reaching his arm out to wrap around Peter's shoulder's in comfort. "Let's get the stuff from the car, and then we'll find them, ok?"

Peter nodded, partly reassured, partly just as uneasy as before, because the fact that Tony would have to _find_ them, all of them, including May, meant that he wasn't still in touch with May, which probably meant that she had been dusted like Peter, which meant that it might not be easy to find her, the way Peter had been childishly hoping.

* * *

As promised, Tony set FRIDAY to a search as soon as they got inside, but the AI sheepishly admitted that, with the sudden resurgence of people since Tony snapped them back to life, it would take her a while to sort through everything and find who Peter was looking for. She'd be able to do it, certainly faster than most agencies, but even she had limitations. So, Peter would have to deal with that uneasy, gnawing feeling in his gut for a little while longer.

In a very obvious attempt to distract Peter from his own thoughts, Pepper suggested a movie night.

" _Frozen II_!" Morgan yelled immediately.

Peter's eyes widened. "There's a _second_ one?"

Morgan stopped and turned to stare at him slowly. "You've never seen _Frozen II_?" she asked, sounding absolutely horrified.

Nobody dared to point out that Peter had been dead when the movie was released.

So, at Morgan's insistence, they all piled onto the couch to watch _Frozen II_. Morgan started out on the floor, dancing to her favorite songs and putting on a show that was admittedly a bit more entertaining than the movie itself (though Peter was still fascinated by the story). But some time after the characters entered the enchanted forest and Olaf had his big solo, Morgan climbed onto the couch and curled up in Peter's lap to keep watching, falling asleep only ten minutes later. He was a little surprised by her choice of human pillows, what with both her parents being right there and much more familiar than he was, himself, but he didn't mind at all.

Tony was the first to notice that Morgan had passed out on Peter, but all he did was grin broadly and take his phone out of his pocket to snap a picture. When Peter saw the flash go off, he looked around and rolled his eyes at his mentor very deliberately. Tony made a show of setting the picture as his phone wallpaper in retaliation, which Peter couldn't actually think of a good response for, other than blushing and hunching down in his seat a little.

The rest of the movie was finished in relative silence. As the credits rolled, Pepper stood up and leaned down to reach for Morgan. "I'll get the little miss up to bed," she said softly.

"I can do it," Peter offered, before Pepper could lift Morgan out of his lap. The way she had shifted in her sleep, leaning heavily against his chest with her head tucked under his chin and her legs sprawled sideways across his knees, he had a feeling it might be easier for him to simply scoop her up and take her upstairs himself than risk waking her up with a changing of hands.

"You sure?" Pepper checked, and when he nodded she leaned down to kiss the top of Morgan's head, then Peter's (that still surprised him a little). Tony ruffled Peter's hair affectionately as he shifted to stand up, securing his arms around Morgan so that he didn't wake her up as he got to his feet.

Things were all well and good right until the very last second, when Peter got to Morgan's room and did his best to ever-so-gently place her down on her bed without waking her up.

She woke up.

Only a little, she was very groggy and barely coherent, but she blinked blearily up at him and he felt a tiny hand curl into his sleeve as he tucked her blankets up around her to make sure she was cozy.

"Hey," he whispered. "Sorry, Mo, I didn't mean to wake you up."

She didn't respond for a minute, which made him wonder if she actually was awake, and then she mumbled, "Daddy was right."

Peter paused, turning his head to look at her curiously. "Right about what, Mo?"

Morgan hummed, her fingers relaxing on his sleeve as sleep started to overtake her once more, wiggling around to turn onto her side, curling up in a little ball under the blankets. "I like having a big brother."

She was fast asleep before Peter had time to wrap his head around her words.

When the reality that Morgan had called him her brother finally hit him, his vision blurred a little. He'd always sort of wanted a sibling, but with his parents dying when he was barely older than Morgan was, herself, and Ben and May never having any kids, he had long ago accepted the life of an only child. But now...

Peter leaned down and kissed the top of Morgan's head as she snoozed, happily oblivious to the roller coaster of emotions she had set him on. "I like having a little sister," he whispered.

* * *

Apparently Peter looked pensive when he returned to the living room, because Tony took one look at him and immediately asked, "Is something wrong?"

"No," Peter answered automatically, reclaiming his seat in the corner of the plush sofa and curling up, glancing briefly at the TV screen to see what movie Tony and Pepper had picked to succeed _Frozen II_ in their movie night ( _Star Trek_ , the one with Chris Pine, because Peter had once admitted that sometimes he preferred the _Star Trek_ movies over the _Star Wars_ ones, which had led to an hour of Tony teasing Peter about a crush on Chris Pine that may or may not have actually existed. The fact that Tony had seemed to remember Peter's favorite movies, even after five years, filled Peter with a comforting warmth).

Tony reached over to gently poke the space between Peter's eyebrows. "You've got a little crinkly thing going on, there. You sure?"

Peter immediately lifted his eyebrows to smooth out the "crinkly thing". "Yeah, I'm sure," he insisted. "Seriously, Mr. Stark, nothing's wrong. I'm fine, Morgan's fine. Sound asleep."

Tony looked unimpressed, and continued to poke Peter in various places - his arm, cheek, nose. When that very insistent finger landed on a particularly ticklish spot in Peter's side, Peter squeaked loudly and wiggled away. " _Jeez_ , seriously! God, you're the worst. I forgot how _annoying_ dads are."

Peter froze, realizing that he had sort of just implied that he thought of Tony like a dad, but Tony had finally stopped poking him, so at least he didn't need to defend himself from being tickled anymore.

He could, perhaps, backtrack and say that he simply meant _dad_ as in, Tony was _a_ dad, _Morgan's_ dad, now, and therefore had irrevocable annoying dad-like behaviors. But he also sort of didn't want to, and would also sort of absolutely be lying through his teeth if he did.

Peter cleared his throat, sitting up a little where he had sunk down in his seat in his attempt to get away from Tony's insistent poking. "Um, Morgan kinda made it sound like you've been telling her I'm her brother, or something," he said softly, finally admitting that there _was_ something on his mind, although, in Peter's opinion, there definitely wasn't anything _wrong_ with it.

Tony opened his mouth to reply, maybe defend himself, if the slightly sheepish look on his face was anything to go by, but Peter talked over him, because if Tony tried to take it back now, Peter would definitely lose his nerve and never say what he wanted to. "I always wanted a little sister. Or a brother. Just, a sibling, really, I wouldn't have been picky, I just wanted one of those... one of those typical families, you know? With the two parents, and the two kids, in a house, and I'll never complain about living with Ben and May, because they're the _best_ , but..."

He didn't get to finish his nervous ramblings before Tony was reaching over to pull him into his side for a hug, pressing a kiss and a whispered _"I love you, kiddie,"_ into his hairline.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think there will be one more chapter after this, because i felt like that was a good place to end but i still want to write a reunion scene for Peter and May. what do you think?


	3. Beyond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I know, kid, it's 2am, I'm the worst," Tony teased. "But trust me, you're gonna want to wake up for this."
> 
> "Mnh-uh."
> 
> "I think you will," Tony insisted. "FRIDAY found May."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok! this is it! the last chapter! this one only took me about two days, surprisingly, and i actually really love it, so i hope you guys do, too!

_"Pete. Hey. Rise and shine, bubba."_

Peter awoke to a gentle hand on his shoulder and a still-dark room, save for the sliver of light from the hallway streaming in through the open door. He didn't have to look at the clock on the nightstand to know it was still the middle of the night, and Tony had no business whatsoever waking up a sixteen year old boy before 9am if it wasn't even a school day. And, since the anti-apocalpyse had sort of just happened and nobody was really sure what to do about anything right now, school was kind of out while all the confusion was being dealt with. So Peter really deserved to sleep in a little.

"Hmng." Peter smushed his face into his pillow and pulled the blanket up over his head. He heard a fond chuckle from somewhere above him, and that gentle hand tugged the blanket back down just enough to expose the top of Peter's head so Tony could work his fingers into his hair, still trying to coax him awake. Despite the fact that he was deeply opposed to being awake, Peter couldn't help tipping his head into the touch, not unlike a cat. A very sleepy cat.

"I know, kid, it's 2am, I'm the worst," Tony teased. "But trust me, you're gonna want to wake up for this."

"Mnh-uh."

"I think you will," Tony insisted. Peter could hear the smile in his voice. He thought this was funny. Meanie. Peter just wanted to sleep. Why wasn't he asleep right now? What was so important that it couldn't wait until he'd gotten his eight hours? Peter's brain wasn't quite connecting to his tongue yet to actually ask that question, but it seemed he didn't need to.

"FRIDAY found May," Tony said, and boy if _that_ didn't wake Peter up immediately. He rolled over and sat bolt upright, dislodging Tony's hand from his hair to look at him with wide, hopeful eyes.

"Are you serious?" Peter blurted, though he knew he had no reason to doubt; Tony wouldn't lie to him, not about this.

Tony nodded, a smile spreading across his face at Peter's reaction. "I called Happy, and when he was done swearing at me for waking him up he agreed to drive into the city and pick her up." He reached over and fussed with Peter's hair a little, possibly smoothing his rampant bedhead. "You'll see her soon, bud."

"Oh my god..." Peter's eyes started to water, and he surged forward until he crashed into Tony, wrapping his arms tightly around his father figure and holding on tight as the tears of relief started to flow. Tony held him close in return, rubbing his back while he sniffled into his shoulder.

When the tears finally let up and allowed Peter to speak again, he leaned back, scrubbing at his damp cheeks with his sleeve. "So... she's on her way? Right now? And, what about Ned and everyone, is FRIDAY still looking for them?"

 _"Those of your classmates who were dusted along with everyone else five years ago were still on the school bus,"_ FRIDAY reported. Before fear could seize Peter's heart too completely, she added, _"When they reappeared there was a traffic jam, due to so many people reappearing in the streets at once. None of them were too badly injured, but most of them were taken to the nearest hospital for treatment."_ Peter slumped back against his pillows, relieved.

"Oh my god," he breathed. "I thought you were gonna say they died _twice_."

 _"They did not,"_ FRIDAY assured him, sounding sort of amused. _"According to hospital records, Ned has a fractured wrist and bruised ribs, Michelle suffered a mild concussion and severe road rash, and many of the others have similar injuries and abrasions, but all of them survived. Some of them have already gone home, but others are being held at the hospital while they wait for their parents to be located."_

"Oh my god," Peter repeated, closing his eyes. "Oh my god. Ok. Thank you. Oh my god." He opened his eyes again and looked at Tony. "Can we go see them?"

Tony nodded, smiling softly. "Of course, bud, we'll go in the morning-"

"No, _now_."

Tony paused. "Pete," he said gently. "It's 2 in the morning. They're not gonna let visitors in at 2 in the morning."

"They'll let Tony Stark in," Peter insisted, his eyes wide, silently pleading. He knew Tony was a sucker for puppy eyes, so he could admit to laying it on a little heavy. "Please, Mr. Stark, I've _gotta_ see them."

Tony looked like he was starting to cave, then he squinted at Peter suspiciously. He poked Peter in the chest. "I know what you're doing, mister," he said accusingly.

Whoops. Maybe a little _too_ heavy.

Tony sighed, leaning over to drop a kiss on the top of Peter's head. "But it's working," he grumbled, accepting defeat. "We'll wait until Happy gets here with May, and then we'll go, ok?"

Peter beamed as Tony stood up, ruffling his hair as he went. "Thanks, Mr. Stark," he said earnestly.

"More like Mr. Pushover," Tony teased.

* * *

Happy had only just set out from the Compound to go get May when Tony came in to wake Peter up, but Peter was too jittery to go back to sleep for the two and a half hours it would take him to drive to the city and back up to the lake house, so he and Tony went back downstairs to watch _Star Wars._ They had started a marathon the previous day, after finishing the Chris Pine _Star Trek_ trilogy.

After what felt like an eternity, but was actually only the duration of _Return of the Jedi_ , Tony got a text from Happy saying they were five minutes away. Peter sprang out of his seat at the news, and for the rest of those five minutes Tony couldn't convince him to sit back down no matter what he said.

Well, not _technically_ true. Peter ended up sitting cross-legged on the ceiling directly over Tony's head after he got distracted in the middle of pacing up and down the room and actually paced straight up the wall.

Tony looked a little unnerved by his choice of seating arrangement, but after a moment of tilting his head back to squint up at Peter he let out a long, resigned sigh and shook his head. "At least if you fall you'll land on the couch," he muttered.

And fall, Peter did. His enhanced hearing picked up the sound of Happy's car pulling up the driveway before Tony's did, and he let out a yell of excitement, effectively scaring the crap out of Tony, especially when Peter lost his focus and unstuck from the ceiling, landing in a heap on the cushion next to his mentor.

"Je _sus_ ," Tony grumbled, putting his hand over his heart like a scandalized Victorian lady, while Peter scrambled to get himself upright as the front door unlocked and eased open.

"Boss?" Happy's voice called softly through the house, clearly under the impression that people were actually sleeping around here.

Peter was on his feet and racing through the house before Tony could even think about replying. He barreled past Happy, who yelped in surprise and did a weird jump-hop motion to get out of the teenager's way, straight through the door into the chilly night air, barefoot and jacketless, wearing only pajama bottoms and a thin t-shirt, but he couldn't have cared less, because May was standing just outside the door, dropping her purse with just enough time to open her arms and catch Peter as he collided with her, barely avoiding knocking her over.

 _"May,"_ Peter gasped, throwing his arms around her and holding on tight, feeling like his entire body was going to explode from relief and joy. "Oh my god, I'm so happy to see you."

"Oh, baby, me too," May said, hugging him just as tight, rocking them side to side on the spot. "I've been so worried about you, I knew you must be with Tony, but I didn't know how to get in touch, my phone's service was dead and you can't just call _Tony Stark_ on a _payphone_..."

Peter giggled weakly, burying his face in her shoulder. "Yeah," he mumbled, his eyes falling closed as he let himself relax in his aunt's arms. He was still anxious to see his friends and see for himself that they were ok, but seeing May and being able to talk to her and _hug_ her again already made him feel so much more at ease. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you more," May shot back, leaning back enough to cup Peter's face in her hands and plant a kiss on his forehead. Then she looked him up and down and got a good look at him, and immediately went into mother hen mode, tsking and fussing. "Oh, look at you, you're in your pajamas, it's freezing, what are you doing? Crazy kid, get back inside, go, I'm right behind you." Peter huffed and rolled his eyes, but she just picked up her purse and swatted gently at him until he got the message and shuffled back into the house.

Tony was standing by the door with Happy by the time Peter and May came inside. He had a funny smirk on his face that was somewhere between fond and amused, so Peter assumed he'd seen their reunion, as well as May clucking at him. He reached out to offer her a quick one-armed hug (May was a little taken aback by the lack of right arm attached to his other side, but she took it in stride and accepted the hug gracefully). "Good to see you again, May," he greeted.

"You too," she agreed, before stepping back to Peter and tucking an arm around him, looking around the house. "A cabin, huh? Would not have guessed that one. It's nice."

"We like it," Tony said, clearly pleased. He had told Peter that he and Pepper had designed the house themselves, and he'd been personally involved in the construction, so compliments to the house were direct feed for his ego.

"May," Peter said suddenly, once he'd let them get the hellos and pleasantries out of the way, "Ned and MJ are in the hospital. They were still on the bus when they got dusted. Tony promised we could go see them when you got here."

Happy turned to glare at Tony. "Oh, did he? So I get to make that drive _back_ into the city _again_ , before 6 in the damn morning?"

"I thought you liked driving," Tony defended, grinning unrepentantly.

"You woke me up at _2 in the_ -"

"Uncle Happy?" a little voice mumbled from somewhere behind Tony, and everyone turned around to look as Morgan came toddling down the stairs, rubbing sleep out of her eyes with her fist and clinging to the handrail for balance with her other hand. She'd clearly just woken up, and not quite rediscovered her center of gravity yet. "Whatcha doin' here?"

In a gesture that admittedly kind of surprised Peter, because the Happy he was used to always liked to pretend he was so gruff and grumpy around kids, Happy leaned down as Morgan approached him and swept her up onto his hip, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Hey, missy," he greeted fondly.

"Our invitations to the party seem to have been lost in the mail," Pepper said dryly as she came down the stairs after Morgan, looking slightly more awake than her daughter. When she spotted May standing with Peter, her eyes lit up and she picked up her pace to hug her old friend. "Hi, May," she said warmly.

"Pepper," May replied, returning the hug with a smile. "Thanks for looking after my baby."

"Our pleasure, we've loved having him here again," Pepper said honestly, running a hand through Peter's hair; he ducked his head, embarrassed.

"Guys," Peter whined, shuffling his feet petulantly. All the adults laughed at him, which did _not_ help, but he had long ago resigned himself to the fact that this was just his life, and honestly, his heart didn't mind it as much as his quick-to-blush skin did. In a desperate attempt to get the conversation back on track, he said emphatically, _"Ned and MJ?_ Please?"

"Alright, alright," Tony snickered. "What do you say, Hap? One more time, for the kid?"

"The first time was _already_ for the kid," Happy grumbled, but he was already reaching into his pocket and taking out the keys, jingling them in Peter's face briefly. "Go get dressed before I change my mind."

Peter gave Happy a fleeting, squeezing hug that left him complaining about how he _used_ to have a rib cage before bolting up the stairs to change out of his pajamas.

* * *

Pepper and Morgan elected to go back to bed for a few hours instead of making the trip to the city with the rest of them, so once Peter was dressed he, May, Tony and Happy all piled back into Happy's car. May and Peter sat in the back, catching each other up on what they had missed in each other's lives over the last few days since returning from the Blip, and Tony sat shotgun up front with Happy, where the two men bickered over the stereo controls. Happy tried to insist it was far too early for the piercing screams of AC/DC, while Tony's argument was that Happy's smooth jazz playlists would put everyone to sleep within minutes.

The compromise was a very strange mixtape of both, switching genres every song.

Aside from the interesting music choice, they made it to the hospital FRIDAY directed them to without incident. Happy dropped them off at the curb before going to find a parking spot and a place to nap in the car for however long the visit took.

Peter was starting to nearly vibrate with nervous energy again when Tony led the way into the lobby, approaching the front desk with all his usual public _You Know Who I Am_ confidence and dramatically taking off his sunglasses. The nurse on duty's mouth dropped open in shock when she looked up and saw him standing in front of her, _Tony Stark in the flesh_ (well... minus an arm), and when he calmly asked for the room numbers of the kids from Midtown Tech who'd been in the traffic accident, in particular an Edward Leeds and Michelle Jones, it was all the poor woman could do to look up the information on her computer and stammer out the numbers and what floor they were on, despite the glaringly obvious sign sitting on the desk staring Peter in the face screaming "Visiting Hours 9am-9pm".

Peter could barely stop himself from _running_ all the way up to the third floor and racing up and down the halls until he found one of his friend's rooms or the other; it took every ounce of his concentration to force himself to stay with Tony and May and walk calmly like a normal person into the elevator, following the signs when they reached the third floor until they found-

"MJ!" Peter squeaked, clapping both hands over his mouth when the name came out louder than he intended.

MJ was awake, despite the early hour, sitting propped up in her mostly-elevated hospital bed with her knees pulled up, hunched over a yellow legal pad that a nurse had probably given her in lieu of her usual sketchbook. She had gauze taped over her left eyebrow, and her arms were wrapped up, likely to protect the road rash FRIDAY had mentioned, but she looked mostly ok. When she heard Peter's voice she looked up, surprise written across her face. The surprise only grew when she saw May and Tony Stark with him, but she schooled her features quickly.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, probably going for her usual deadpan/annoyed tone, but succeeding in sounding kind of happy to see someone familiar, for once. "How did you know where-" she stopped herself from finishing that question, looking at Tony again. "Never mind."

"Oh my god, I'm so glad to see you," Peter blurted out, not even embarrassed for once when the statement made MJ raise her eyebrows at him in amusement. "Can... can I give you a hug?"

MJ snorted and rolled her eyes, setting her notepad and pencil aside. "If you have to," she said dryly.

Peter barely gave her time to lift her arms before he was wrapping his own around her in the biggest hug he could muster.

He strategically chose not to say anything when he felt a damp spot start to form on his shirt where her face was pressed against his shoulder.

* * *

Tony and May went to find something that might at least sort of resemble coffee, while Peter stayed and talked with MJ for somewhere close to half an hour before she kicked him out, unabashedly stating that she had to pee and the hospital gown she was wearing was very open in the back. She said things like that to embarrass _Peter_ more than herself, really.

Feeling heaps lighter already after having talked to one of his two best friends, Peter was smiling as he set out in search of Ned's room. It didn't take him that long to find, really; the two rooms were only about ten numbers apart.

When he found it, he couldn't stop the grin on his face even if he wanted to as he knocked softly on the door before quietly easing it open, peeking inside.

Unlike MJ, Ned was still asleep, and Peter felt a little bad about waking him up but he also knew Ned would think it was worth it, probably. He stepped inside and approached the side of the bed.

"Ned," he whispered, not wanting to startle his friend too badly. _"Ned."_

Ned mumbled a little, starting to stir at the sound of his name. He squinted one eye open and peeked up at Peter before closing it again, clearly thinking he was probably just a nurse or something, before something seemed to click in his brain and both eyes shot wide open.

 _"Peter!"_ he gasped, struggling to sit up with one of his arms tucked up in a cast. "Holy- oh my god, dude! What are you doing here?" The same question MJ had asked, but more obviously delighted. "I- you- _you were in space!_ And it's been five years! What the hell!"

"I know, I know," Peter said, grinning, gesturing for Ned to calm down. "It's crazy, and I'll fill you in, I promise."

"You'd _better_ ," Ned said emphatically, before he paused, looking at Peter properly for a long moment. He frowned, his eyes watering.

 _Oh no,_ Peter thought. If Ned started crying, there was no way he wouldn't start, too.

"But first," Ned added, his voice quivering, "you gotta give me a hug, because my best friend launched himself into space on a _freaking alien ship_ and I thought he was gonna _die_."

 _"Ned,"_ Peter whined, leaning forward and all but collapsing into the requested hug, mindful of Ned's wrist.

"Don't do that again," Ned scolded tearfully, hugging Peter fiercely. "I'm not gonna cover for you next time. If you see another alien donut, I'm not gonna distract everyone, I'm gonna point at you and yell, _Peter's Spider-Man and he's gonna try to get himself killed fighting a bunch of crazy aliens_."

"Ned, _shh_ ," Peter hissed, giggling a little, afraid there might be a security camera somewhere. "Ok, fine, deal, no more crazy aliens. I promise."

"Good," Ned said firmly, before leaning back, his eyes gleaming. "Now that we've agreed on that, tell me _everything_ about the crazy aliens."

Peter laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't forget to reblog your favorite content and if you enjoy a fic don't click out of the ao3 page without commenting first! that goes for all fics, not just mine! this has been a big issue lately, especially on tumblr! content creators are getting so discouraged because they're not getting enough feedback (likes are good, but they're not enough!). REBLOG! COMMENT! INTERACT! SHOW THEM LOVE!

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr [@riseuplikeglitterandgold!](https://riseuplikeglitterandgold.tumblr.com/)
> 
> maycifica on Tumblr translated part of fic into Russian! How cool is that? [Read the translation here!](https://ficbook.net/readfic/9616064)


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